6.5 CM hunting bullets

[BrentM]

Run the 147. The 143x is an excellent choice and little better suited to the CM for bit more speed to help it expand at longer ranges. I have killed a pile of wolves and yotes with the 147 and have amazing results. I switched to the 135 for a test and have been super happy on yotes, wolves, and deer so far. IMHO you need to keep the fps plus 1600 and should see decent expansion and penetration. I'd have zero issue using a eldM or the eldx. Last note, my neighbor has killed 11 elk, several deer and bear, using the 143 at 2700ish out his creedmoor. All 1 shot kills from 150-500. No doubt about its performance in my mind

 

[Dosh]

Don't have a 6.5, but helped work up loads for three. 130-140 Bergers were the most accurate and deadly on game. One took a Desert Bighorn at 613 yds one shot.

 

[deaddownrange]

Run the 147. The 143x is an excellent choice and little better suited to the CM for bit more speed to help it expand at longer ranges. I have killed a pile of wolves and yotes with the 147 and have amazing results. I switched to the 135 for a test and have been super happy on yotes, wolves, and deer so far. IMHO you need to keep the fps plus 1600 and should see decent expansion and penetration. I'd have zero issue using a eldM or the eldx. Last note, my neighbor has killed 11 elk, several deer and bear, using the 143 at 2700ish out his creedmoor. All 1 shot kills from 150-500. No doubt about its performance in my mind

How much sewing do you do on the yotes?

 

[BrentM]

None. If you hit the shoulder its bad but otherwise the hole is generally 1" and not much different than a 223, 204 etc. I will say most are 300 to 700 yards out. Occasionally I'll get one at PBR. I've killed several wolves under 50 yards and all were minimal damage.

 

[VTbluegrass]

My wife has pole-axed every whitetail she's shot at the 130 and 135 Bergers.

 

[snox801]

I've used both the 147 and the 143 both worked fine for dee with the x being a bit more explosive.
Problem for me was when hitting solid they had issues. My dad still currently shoots them and they work fine. But the way I see it is like Berger when the work they kill and kill fast but when they don't they suck.
Here is a sample to play the other side of everyone's drt.
Two weeks ago in Texas while culling audad I was shooting the hammers no issue no matter the angle or shoulder shot entry and exit nothing went far.
My father on the other hand shot 13 of them with the eldx. Most bang flop or very short distance after shot. Problem is he lost one he hit square in the shoulder. Had two spotters that saw where it hit. Thought is it hit shoulder socket and stopped. So the first few had everyone believing they were better than even my hammers the one that got away is now the third animal with the same situation that got away.
So ask yourself if you were to gamble on a 32" plus audad you pay day 4K for do you like the 12 oout of 13 bang flops and one gets away or all of them run 20-30 yards and die?
One out of 13 is not what I'd gamble. Now I've killed many many well over 100 critters with hammers and never had one slip away yet! Can't say it won't but haven't yet.

 

[Jon Bischof]

I like what snox said and agree with his conclusions. It is true that a bullet that has rapid expansion and/or fragmentation often gets you a DRT animal. The problem arises if you hit shoulder socket, it may not penetrate to do the job. Or, Heaven forbid, your bullet misses its mark and hits further back than you intended, the critter runs away leaving you little or no blood trail.

I like DRT as much as anyone, but I am not willing to gamble on losing game due to not having an exit hole. I always want an exit hole in case there is no DRT. That's why I prefer tougher expanding bullets that retain enough mass to pass through in most cases and punch through bone in others. I'll take "Found Somewhere" over "Dead Right There" any day.

Now there are two different kinds of bullets that achieve this.
1. Tougher Bonded bullets (long history of these and even some brand new ones)
2. Mono copper bullets like Barnes and Hammer, etc.

 

[JMB 1911]

I thought the ELDX was a bonded bullet designed to expand but hold together. I am old fashioned and I want a exit hole. I know setting a bomb of in a rib cage leads to instant death but that same bullet to far back or forward leads to know blood trail and lost animals. I still would like the High BC but from what I am reading here the only possible good high BC bullets that stays together is the accubond unless I am missing what is being said about ELDX

 

[BrentM]

I thought the ELDX was a bonded bullet designed to expand but hold together. I am old fashioned and I want a exit hole. I know setting a bomb of in a rib cage leads to instant death but that same bullet to far back or forward leads to know blood trail and lost animals. I still would like the High BC but from what I am reading here the only possible good high BC bullets that stays together is the accubond unless I am missing what is being said about ELDX

I've seen a lot of exit holes with the x and others. I've shot several with the vld hunting and they all exited too. I think people get all hung up in the high shoulder shot. Those don't usually exit and you don't want them to do so. The 4 deer my rifle killed this year with x and a tips 300-390 all exited and did a fantastic job

 

[skipglo]

So I bought my 6.5 CM so I could shoot and practice long range. I worked up a great load for 147 ELDM. Now I want a hunting load. In my .270 I have been using LRX which is awesome. The purpose of the 6.5 is long aerodynamic bullets so I don't see the logic in going to the lighter monolithic solids for it. Can the lack of of BC be compensated by the additional speed or should I go with the Accubond , ELDX or some other cup and core high BC bullet

Stay with the 147's.....they work just fine!

 

[LongBomber]

I am about to begin creating this exact combination for my son's Savage 6.5CM using the 140 accubond. Would you mind sharing your basic recipe using the RL26 knowing it has to start lower? I'll also be using new Nosler brass. Thanks.

I settled on 48.1gr of rl26, and 0.025" off the lands. Gives me 2905fps from a 26" barrel. I didnt notice any pressure signs and ran up to 48.8gr, at that point the load is very compressed. 47.8-48.2 gave me a decent sized node to work in, basically flat at 2905fps.

 

[snox801]

I thought the ELDX was a bonded bullet designed to expand but hold together. I am old fashioned and I want a exit hole. I know setting a bomb of in a rib cage leads to instant death but that same bullet to far back or forward leads to know blood trail and lost animals. I still would like the High BC but from what I am reading here the only possible good high BC bullets that stays together is the accubond unless I am missing what is being said about ELDX

Problem with the higher bc bullets is they start much slower. The minimum opening FPS still is what limits them at distance. When running the numbers on my 6.5 creed the 124 hammer and the 147 both reached min velocity at about the same distance. So the high bc means nothing gained but way more drop at normal hunting ranges. So yes you can hit your target farther out with a high bc accubond or such but if the bullet doesn't open you put an animal through something not needed. If you need more distance you need to realize the creed is not the round. No matter what the guy at cabelas or the bar tell you.

 

[snox801]

Stay with the 147's.....they work just fine!

I can tell you they don't compared. I have an oryx that agrees with me after a few shots.

 

[snox801]

I've seen a lot of exit holes with the x and others. I've shot several with the vld hunting and they all exited too. I think people get all hung up in the high shoulder shot. Those don't usually exit and you don't want them to do so. The 4 deer my rifle killed this year with x and a tips 300-390 all exited and did a fantastic job

I agree with this for the most part. But My dad had several no exits on audad. They died for sure but no exit. Again for deer go for it never had an issue but if working up load why not have one load for all hunting and way less drop to 400 over the heavies.